Student Fund-Raising Policy

The College benefits greatly from the ongoing generosity of Bowdoin alumni and parents, who provide significant monetary support for student-related programs and services on an annual basis. The Development Office coordinates all fund-raising efforts on behalf of the College. Students, student organizations, and athletic teams are not permitted to solicit alumni for monetary support.

Though the College recognizes that parents of current students are sometimes asked to provide supplemental funding for student activities and organizations and special initiatives such as trips for athletic teams, students, student organizations, and athletic teams are not permitted to conduct widespread parent fund-raising appeals.

Chartered student organizations are eligible to receive funding through the Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC), and agree by virtue of their status as chartered organizations to comply with all College policies including fund-raising restrictions. Members of athletic teams, including club sports, are also subject to these restrictions.

Student organizations may sell items for profit if the proceeds go to the organization, but only with the prior permission of the Director of Student Life. Athletic teams must receive prior permission from the Director of Athletics. In addition, items normally sold in the bookstore may not be offered for sale without prior permission from the Bookstore Manager. Students and College Employees as individuals may sell products but may not use campus rooms, mailing or any other College facilities to promote or sell their products without written permission from the Office of Student Life. Questions should be addressed to the Director of Student Life, ext. 3201.

Student Grant Seeking

The College recognizes that an individual student or group of students may wish to seek external grant funding and is ready to support such efforts. Every student-initiated grant project team must include one member of the Bowdoin faculty or staff, who will serve as a liaison between the student(s) and the institution. The College will not submit or accept student-initiated grant proposals that are not sponsored by a faculty or staff liaison. The faculty or staff member who accepts the role of liaison will be responsible for:

guiding the student(s) to work in a timely fashion with the College’s Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations;

ensuring that the student-initiated proposal is in compliance with all College policies as outlined in the Bowdoin College Grants Manual; and